Police believe the man who allegedly threw a 23-month-old boy off a pedestrian overpass Thursday morning was high on crystal methamphetamine at the time.

Cyrus Nainoa Tupa'i Belt was thrown from a Miller Street overpass, falling 24 feet into traffic. The city Medical Examiner said yesterday that Cyrus likely died from the fall. His body also suffered "significant trauma" as the result of being run over by a car.

Matthew M. Higa, who lived with his father in the same Nu'uanu apartment building as the child, was arrested shortly after the killing.

Police said Higa may have been high on crystal methamphetamine Thursday, but they are awaiting the results of a toxicology test.

Higa remains in police custody, but has not been charged.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Human Services confirmed yesterday that Cyrus was taken away from his mother, Nancy Asiata Chanco, for four days last year because of her drug abuse.

The department also said Chanco was the subject of at least six state Child Welfare Services investigations into allegations that she abused drugs and engaged in behavior that endangered Cyrus and her other children, according to police sources and DHS officials.

Chanco, 33, could not be reached to comment on the CPS case.

But in an emotional interview earlier yesterday, she called Higa a "sick person." She added, "I'm not an angel, but this man is a monster. He kidnapped my baby and he murdered him and he threw him off a ... bridge."

Chanco also said police detectives told her yesterday that H-1 Freeway cameras show Cyrus was not moving as he was thrown from the overpass, leading her to believe the child may have been dead or unconscious before he was tossed. "They (police) said when he dropped Cyrus there was no movement," Chanco said.

A police spokesman declined comment on the report. But the city Medical Examiner said last night that there were no signs the child was beaten or suffocated prior to being thrown from the bridge.

As Honolulu homicide police continued to investigate, family members of the victim banded together, trying to cope with the senseless death of someone so young.

Ron Asiata, the child's uncle, said he went to the medical examiner's office yesterday to identify the toddler, sparing the boy's mother more grief. "He's my nephew. I love him with all my heart and he was killed in a violent death," he said. "I'm really upset about it."

Cyrus' grandfather, Lilo Asiata, also talked briefly about how the state Child Welfare Services office had gotten involved in the child's care, but did not go into details.

He said another relative called CPS social workers last year "because my daughter was not being around to help take care of him." He said Cyrus was taken away for one day, then returned to his mother.

The information did not agree with what the Department of Human Services and police said yesterday.

DHS said Chanco walked into a Honolulu Child Welfare Service intake center and gave up control of Cyrus on June 19, 2007. Chanco reportedly was relapsing following a successful stint in drug rehabilitation and wanted to make sure Cyrus was safe while she sobered up, according to DHS officials.

Chanco voluntarily gave Cyrus up after she failed a drug test. She regained custody of her child four days later on June 23.

The department declined to release further details about Chanco's involvement with CWS, citing requests from Honolulu police not to disclose evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation.

Chanco has two other children, a teenager who lives with his father and a 4-year-old who lives with Chanco's mother, Lilo Asiata said.

Chanco was convicted of misdemeanor contempt of court on March 2, 1998. Lilo Asiata has six prior criminal convictions, including harassment and resisting arrest.

PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT

Chanco had left Cyrus at the home, where her father and boyfriend were Thursday morning.

It is unclear at what time Cyrus was taken from his home.

But Higa, who had been a psychiatric patient at The Queen's Medical Center as recently as Dec. 11, allegedly threw the toddler from the Miller Street overpass onto the freeway about 11:40 a.m.

Asiata said Chanco left the boy with him in the morning at their Iolani Avenue apartment, then came back and took the child. He said Chanco then left the child with her boyfriend, who also lives at the apartment. At some point, Asiata said, her boyfriend again left Cyrus with Asiata.

But Asiata said he was asleep and did not know the child was there.

"This whole thing I pretty much blame on myself," Asiata said. "My daughter and her boyfriend, if only they had woken me up and let me know they were leaving, then I would be up."

Police sources have said the toddler had wandered off from the apartment earlier in the day, and was returned to the home by a police officer in the area. But Chanco said though Cyrus was a curious boy, and liked to talk to people, he could not open the screen door.

He could open a main wooden door, however.

It's unclear when Cyrus was returned to the apartment after wandering off. Relatives also did not say whether Cyrus was able to get through the screen door earlier in the day. Chanco said her boyfriend locked the screen door after leaving Cyrus with Asiata.

That leads her to believe Higa forcefully entered the apartment.

Chanco also said she was scared of Higa because of a history of strange behavior and apparent drug use.

"He's got a strange vibe," she said, choking back tears. "Every time I would come outside, I would feel uncomfortable."

She said Higa would "always come at my baby."

"He would say, 'Let me hold the baby. Let me hold the baby.' " Even so, Chanco says she never left Cyrus alone with Higa.

Police sources said Higa occasionally babysat Cyrus.

But Chanco disputed the claims.

"I would never, ever let that weirdo watch my baby," she said.

It's unclear whether other relatives ever left Cyrus with Higa.

'REGULAR STUDENT'

Higa, who was arrested Thursday wearing teal hospital garments, had been in the psychiatric unit at Queen's as recently as Dec. 11 after an arrest at a car dealership, police said.

Civil court records also showed Higa had harassed a former workplace last year and struck a woman on a bicycle with his vehicle a year earlier.

Those who knew Higa paint contrasting pictures of the man.

Roosevelt High School Principal Ann Mahi said Higa was "just a regular student." He graduated from the school in 2002. "There were no files on him having any difficulties. His passion was cars," she said.

A woman who said she has known Higa for about six years called him a "teddy bear" and a "polite gentleman" who fell into drugs after a serious car accident in 2004, which killed a friend.

But some neighbors said Higa appeared to be very angry.

They said he would often fight with his father, who had told neighbors his son was hearing voices but refused counseling.

In an interview yesterday at a Waikiki hotel, where the boy's mother is staying, Chanco said she believes Higa was mad at her and hurt her child to get revenge. She recently told him, "Look, do not touch my baby," she said, adding Higa had in the past entered her apartment without permission.

She said Higa had never before hurt her child.

About 3 a.m. on the day Cyrus was killed, Higa knocked on Chanco's door and asked for cigarettes, she said. "He was yelling about something," Chanco said. "I slammed the door in his face."

Chanco disputed the idea that Higa is mentally ill.

"He's not mentally ill. He's a drug addict with psychosis; that's not mentally ill," she said yesterday. "I know he did drugs."

The toddler's gruesome death has left residents islandwide stunned and saddened. Dozens left stuffed toys, flowers and balloons at the pedestrian overpass where Cyrus was thrown.

Many offered monetary donations. A fund for Cyrus has been set up at Bank of Hawaii. Donations can be dropped off for the boy at any branch, relatives said.

Lisa Belt, Cyrus' aunt, said she learned of her nephew's death yesterday when she read it in the paper. She then had to break the news to the boy's father, David Belt, who is in prison and hasn't seen Cyrus since he was a newborn. "He was shocked," Belt said.

David Belt was on probation when his son was born and a month later was charged with new drug offenses by the city Prosecuting Attorney's Office, according to court records. Belt was charged with promoting dangerous drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia March 3, 2006, and pleaded guilty in August 2006. Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario sentenced him as a repeat criminal offender to five years in prison Dec. 6, 2006. He is serving the sentence at the Waiawa minimum security facility.

"Cyrus is the spitting image of his dad. It's really devastating. I hope that he is able to go (to the funeral) to see his son one last time," Lisa Belt said.

Of Higa, she said, "I hope he truly get the help he needs."

Staff writers Lynda Arakawa, Kim Fassler, Eloise Aguiar and Jim Dooley contributed to this report.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com and Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.